Montana State was selected for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on March 15, marking the second consecutive season the Bobcats have qualified for post-season play, according to event organizer Triple Crown Sports.
This selection places Montana State among 48 teams in the 28th annual Postseason WNIT. The Bobcats secured an automatic qualifier spot as the Big Sky Conference’s top seed that did not receive an NCAA Tournament invitation. The full tournament bracket, including host sites and matchups, will be announced Monday.
“I’m very proud of this team and we’re excited to continue playing,” said Montana State head coach Tricia Binford. “The resume this team put together is certainly deserving of post-season basketball. We finished 69th in the NET Ranking, had a Quad One win, and won 25 basketball games. I believe our best basketball remains in front of this team, and with no seniors on this team the post-season experience we gain will be valuable.”
Last season, Montana State played in the NCAA Tournament after winning both the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles. The only previous back-to-back post-season appearances for Montana State came during the 2016-2017 seasons. In those years, they lost at Utah in the 2016 WNIT before advancing to play at Washington in the 2017 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
This marks Montana State’s fourth appearance in the WNIT; however, they remain winless across five previous games, including participation in a three-team round-robin regional format in 1988. Ticket information for upcoming WNIT games will be released once brackets are finalized.
The broader field includes other automatic qualifiers such as Abilene Christian (WAC), Alcorn State (SWAC), Florida International (CUSA), Lamar (Southland), Mercyhurst (NEC), Radford (Big South), Maryland Eastern Shore, and Youngstown State (Horizon). At-large selections include Air Force (Mountain West), Arkansas State (Sun Belt), Army (Patriot), Austin Peay (ASUN), Binghamton (American East), Bradley (Missouri Valley), Cleveland State (Horizon) and several others.
